RUTANA July 23rd (ABP) – The Catholic Diocese of Rutana in south-eastern Burundi has received new servants of God on the weekend of July 19-20, 2019, with the ordination of five priests and nine deacons, and the collation of the ministry of readership to 10 senior seminarians and that of acolyteship to 7 others, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The priestly and diaconal ordination ceremonies were held at Muhweza Parish on Saturday and were enhanced by the presence of the First Deputy President of the Upper House of Parliament, Ms. Spès Caritas Njebarikanuye and the Governor of Rutana Province. The ceremonies of the collation of ministries took place on the evening of Friday in the premises of the pastoral center of the diocese of Rutana, which had just been blessed as the inauguration of a chapel and adjoining rooms in the center. The Friday evening ceremonies began with the blessing of the 15 rooms attached to the pastoral center built as much as the chapel by the Organization for Mutual Aid and Community Development (ODECO-Caritas) and the chapel. A Mass followed during which the candidate priests and deacons, while stating that no constraint was made to them, solemnly swore an oath of obedience to the church, the bishop and his successors and to remain faithful to celibacy and chastity, before signing each one’s signature on the act of commitment. The bishop of the diocese of Rutana, Mgr. Bonaventure Nahimana, indicated that the reception of those infrastructures (Chapel and rooms) was an opportunity to say thank you to the ODECO-Caritas workers who worked on the construction of those works.
For the Saturday ceremonies, they were held on the playground of a school of the site where they built stands in tarpaulins to shelter participants from all the parishes of the diocese against the sun.
In his homily, the bishop of the Diocese of Rutana, who chaired the ordination ceremonies of those priests and deacons, said that a priest whom the people of God wishes to have is one who reflects everywhere the image of Jesus Christ, who tries to walk in His steps. He is a light that illuminates, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and who gives his all for others. He must be in the midst of Christians as a watchman who warns the people of God. He is called on to implore God for His people. He must be a bridge that leads to the heavenly Father.